RC
Robert Coote
Actor
Died November 26, 1982 (73 years)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Robert Coote (4 February 1909 – 26 November 1982) was an English actor. He played aristocrats or British military types in many films, and created the role of Colonel Hugh Pickering in the long-running original Broadway production of My Fair Lady.
Coote was born in London and educated at Hurstpierpoint College in Sussex. He began his stage career at the age of 16, performing in Britain, South Africa, and Australia before arriving in Hollywood in the late 1930s. He played a succession of pompous British types in supporting roles, including a brief but memorable turn as Sgt. Bertie Higginbotham in Gunga Din (1939). His acting career was interrupted by his service as a squadron leader in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II. He played Bob Trubshawe in Powell and Pressburger's A Matter of Life and Death (1946), chosen for the first-ever Royal Film Performance on 1 November 1946, before he returned to Hollywood, where his films included The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947), Forever Amber (1947), The Three Musketeers (1948), and Orson Welles' Othello (1952).
In 1956, Coote created the role of Colonel Pickering in the original Broadway production of My Fair Lady (1956–62), which he reprised in the musical's 1976–77 Broadway revival. He also originated the role of King Pellinore in the Broadway production of Camelot (1960–63). He was nominated for an Emmy Award for his performance as Timmy St. Clair in the NBC TV series The Rogues (1964–65). In 1966, Coote appeared with Jackie Gleason and Art Carney in an episode of The Honeymooners entitled "The Honeymooners in England", broadcast on CBS-TV from Miami.
In his last feature film performance, Coote portrayed one of the critics dispatched by Vincent Price in Theatre of Blood (1973).
His final role was on television, playing orchid nurse Theodore Horstmann in the 1981 NBC-TV series Nero Wolfe, starring William Conrad in the title role. In most film and TV adaptations of Nero Wolfe mysteries, before and since, Horstmann has been a very minor character, but Coote's Horstmann got considerable screen time in the series.
The veteran British character actor died in his sleep at the New York Athletic Club in November 1982, at the age of 73.
Coote was a close friend of actor David Niven, sharing a house with Niven for a time in the late 1930s and living in a flat over Niven's garage for several years after the Second World War.
Filmography
| 1998 | The Colour Merchant · as Bob Trubshawe |
| 1981 | Nero Wolfe (TV Series) · as Theodore Horstmann |
| 1974 | Benjamin Franklin (TV Series) · as actor |
| 1973 | Theater of Blood · as Oliver Larding |
| 1972 | Up the Front · as General Burke |
| 1968 | Prudence and the Pill · as Henry Hardcastle |
| 1968 | Kenner · as Unknown |
| 1967 | The Cool Ones · as Stanley Krum |
| 1966 | Alice Through the Looking Glass · as The Red King |
| 1966 | The Jackie Gleason Show (1966) (TV Series) · as Charles Lewis |
| 1965 | Play of the Month (TV Series) · as Col. Sir Francis Chesney |
| 1964 | The Golden Head · as Unknown |
| 1964 | The Rogues (TV Series) · as Timmy St. Clair |
| 1963 | The V.I.P.s · as John Coburn |
| 1960 | The League of Gentlemen · as Bunny Warren |
| 1959 | Rawhide (TV Series) · as Ashley |
| 1958 | The Horse's Mouth · as Sir William Beeder |
| 1958 | Merry Andrew · as Dudley Larabee |
| 1956 | The Swan · as Capt. Wunderlich |
| 1956 | Armchair Theatre (TV Series) · as Baines |
| 1955 | Marriage a la Mode · as The Best Man |
| 1952 | The Prisoner of Zenda · as Fritz von Tarlenheim |
| 1952 | Scaramouche · as Gaston Binet |
| 1951 | The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel · as British Medical Officer |
| 1951 | The Lavender Hill Mob · as Waiter in Restaurant |
| 1951 | |
| 1950 | The Lux Video Theatre (TV Series) · as Joe Worton |
| 1949 | The Red Danube · as Brigadier C.M.V. Catlock |
| 1949 | The Fighting Pimpernel · as Sir Andrew ffoulkes |
| 1948 | Berlin Express · as Sterling |
| 1948 | The Three Musketeers · as Aramis |
| 1948 | Studio One (TV Series) · as Dr. Gordon |
| 1947 | The Ghost and Mrs. Muir · as Mr. Coombe |
| 1947 | |
| 1947 | The Exile · as Dick Pinner |
| 1947 | Forever Amber · as Sir Thomas Dudley |
| 1946 | Stairway to Heaven · as Bob Trubshawe |
| 1946 | Cloak and Dagger · as Unknown |
| 1942 | Commandos Strike at Dawn · as Robert Bowen |
| 1939 | Mr. Moto's Last Warning · as Rollo Venables |
| 1939 | Gunga Din · as Bertie Higginbotham |
| 1939 | Nurse Edith Cavell · as Bungey |
| 1939 | Bad Lands · as Eaton |
| 1936 | Rangle River · as Reggie Mannister, Flight-Lieutenant |
| 1934 | Radio Parade of 1935 · as Executive |
| 1931 | Sally in Our Alley · as Waiter At Party |
Best Of Enemies (TV Series) · as Unknown |